Finasteride / Propcia and Depression

[edii]

I was prescribed, and started taking Finasteride (Propecia 1mg/day) 6 months ago. Over the last 3 months I've begun to suffer depression/anxiety, my relationship with my girlfriend has gone completely haywire due to a range of issues that have arisen litterally in the last 3 months, none of which existed ever before in our 3 year relationship. Now, in the last 2 weeks I have, amoungst other things, felt like I've been walking around with a brick in my stomache and been crying randomly/uncontrollably.

When I was prescribed the drug I was only cautioned about pregnancy and erectyle side effects. So after having a complete break-down at a friends party the night before last, coming home and turning to the internet for help (on depression mind you, finasteride was only an afterthought seconds before I was going to start calling doctors early in the morning I was that worried) you can imagine the cold lump that formed in my stomache when on typing in "finasteride d" - "finasteride depression" came up as the 2nd most popular search with 9 mil hits.

So at this point I haven't confirmed (or disconfirmed) that propecia is responsible for what I'm going through right now but if it wasn't it will have to go down as one of the biggest co-incidences of my life. I've stopped usage for 48 hours now and the depression/anxiety is still going strong (hence why I'm posting today) and if a month from now I'm still feeling the same I'll come back here and recant 100% but just on the off chance that it is related to the drug can some people post something helpful or their own experiences here please? In a public forum so that maybe if other people are going through anything similar they can maybe help them feel a little better?

Right now the kinds of things I want to know are how long I need to wait before I do make a call as to whether this is drug induced or I just really have something wrong with me (playing the waiting game not even knowing how long to wait is excruciating) and also if there's is like anything you can do to get it out of your system quicker? That kind of stuff.

Help internets? Please?

Eddie (24)

 

[Nuli]

Ever think that the depression is due to the hair loss and not propecia?

 

[Mew]

Ever think that the depression is due to the hair loss and not propecia?

No, it's not from "hairloss". The drug has been linked to depression and anxiety MANY times over in both humans and animal models, in many scientific papers.

OP, I recommend you not listen to Merck shills who tell you it's not from the drug, when it has been PROVEN it is. Stay off it and you'll most likely be fine within the next 2 weeks-month.

viewtopic.php?p=532987#p532987

 

[Nene]

Ever think that the depression is due to the hair loss and not propecia?

No, it's not from "hairloss". The drug has been linked to depression and anxiety MANY times over in both humans and animal models, in many scientific papers.

OP, I recommend you not listen to Merck shills who tell you it's not from the drug, when it has been PROVEN it is. Stay off it and you'll most likely be fine within the next 2 weeks-month.

viewtopic.php?p=532987#p532987

Hey Mew. Can you site some of those studies? Anything is possible but we all know that correlation does not equal causation.

 

[Cassin]

you should see a doctor and not listen to wanna be doctors on the internet for something so serious as this.

 

[Dblbass128]

Did the same thing to me after being on for only two weeks.....The effects of the drugs on your mental well being are REAL

get off it and see if you can get a script for a benzo of some sort to help you cope with the anxiety when you need it.

I havent used topical finasteride in 4 days and I am just starting to come back to normal today.

I was a train wreck this weekend, and I did not know why

I never want to feel like that again

go to propeciahelp.com and read some studies and testimonies from other finasteride users, there's some good info there

 

[edii]

Hey, well - thanks to the people that have said the supportive things - the stuff I've gone through have been really fked up - in the doctors Mon I recorded a BP of 170/105 which well, is normal for some people but I have personally NEVER recorded anything above 120/80 in my entire life so that something is happening to me is real. As for the people that are pessimistic, I sincerely doubt that this was anything other than finasteride but... well tis like this:

When I was sitting horribly depressed and breaking down on Sat morning and first noticed that there was stuff on the internet about a link between finasteride and depression I felt rage - epic RAGE at the Doctor. However, I booked myself in first thing on Monday to see her (Doctor who prescribed me), bought some supporting evidence and told her my whole story and she was inclined to believe that it was *possible* (said with much pessimism herself even) however in her defence she showed me everything available to her on the drug database and no mention of depression (or many other side effects I've seen mentioned on the net) so I'm really unsure of what the go is - surely it can't be a co-incidence that I've had my first every run in with depression on this drug and that hundreds of others on the internet have had the exact experience right? I just wish there was some more research into the whole issue because despite the fkedness of this all... the improvement in my hair over the 6 mths I took it was incredible so yeh... just wish there was a heads up about what I was getting myself into!

In other news, I took myself off the drug cold-turkey on Saturday (I know that might have been the wisest course of action) and backed it up with immediately detoxing - no caffeine, alcohol, etc. just fruit, veg, grilled meat and lots of water... as a result I've had to leave work both Mon & Tue due to epic withdrawal symptoms - Mon (I came in after Doctor to keep myself busy) was me needing to go home and rug up I was freezing and had goosebumps everywhere despite the 33 Celsius temperature and then Tue due to a debilitating headache which I've still got to some degree today. But positive signs - my mood has already noticeably improved but I'm not jumping to any conclusions as everything I've read says 7 days for your system to get close to normal levels so we're still playing the waiting game.

I'll update when I notice my next change for better or worse. Ciao

 

[baroudeur]

man i never went over a month taking finasteride because of the exact same side effect,depressed and anxious no matter how everything was good for me in life"
my other propecia side effect was constipation

 

[Dblbass128]

man i never went over a month taking finasteride because of the exact same side effect,depressed and anxious no matter how everything was good for me in life"
my other propecia side effect was constipation

to hell with that anti-male poison

use spironolactone instead

 

[barcafan]

Definitely possible --- 5AR isnt JUST for Dht, there's other hormonal pathways that it plays a role in.

 

[edii]

Oh woe is me - 6 months since this eh? How depressing - I've felt so good all this year that I had totally forgotten how bad things were when I went through all that and was actually tossing up ideas in my head such as trying finasteride again... Argh!! Stupid hair loss.

And the worst, the absolute worst thing is that despite the worst (and only!) depression of my life - stupid finasteride had freaking positive effects on hair loss - am using spironolactone at the moment with very limited success. Was considering throwing min into the mix but doesn't seem to be much of a point to that until I've gotten the thinning under control.

ARGH! *hates world* Anyone know any good resources to help you just come to terms with hair loss rather than fighting it? Maybe that sounds like the best option

E

 

[TA45]

Eddie, I hear you loud and clear and look forward to hearng from you.

 

[guybrush]

Hi guys!

I suffer from a mild chronic depression (usually called dysthyma) and I feel that mood/anxiety symptoms worsen every time I'm on finasteride. I guess it might only happen to those like me who are a bit vulnerable.

Been taking an antidepressant herb called rhodiola rosea for a month and it definitely helps. Anxiety is totally gone, my mood is much better and my libido is higher than ever.

Any other antidepressant might help but I'm taking rhodiola because it has a mild effect, it seems to have no serious sides and it also boosts your libido. If you wanna try it out make sure you take it early in the morning because it can interfere with sleep.

 

[barcafan]

your dht bottomed out and chances are your estrogen skyrocketed, high estrogen in men = depression/anxiety/panic attacks as a few symptoms.

 

[dougfunny]

your dht bottomed out and chances are your estrogen skyrocketed, high estrogen in men = depression/anxiety/panic attacks as a few symptoms.

in other words, you started acting like a woman :mrgreen:

 

[TA45]

I wonder the same things. I believe high estrogen, low DHT def plays a role in guys who get depressive sides and yes...basically act like a women. Damn, I recall even losing a lot of muscle tone. I began to feel like a women...seriously! How do people on Finas keep the correct ratio? I exercised, ate healthy etc...it still happened! Now that my DHT is back I am putting on muscle like old times, feel like a man, and losing a crapload of hair! Advice?

 

[TA45]

Monty,
I'm gonna try Finas again. If I can't tolerate, than Flurildil, then nothing.
Ps: your a cool guy!

 

[JohnnyDrama]

Edii,
Glad to hear you're doing good man. Check out my post...VERY similar to yours, I read yours after I posted mine.

viewtopic.php?f=46&t=60347

The best treatment I've found for hair loss is acceptance, it's cheap, it takes no time out of your day, and it keeps you from coming to sites like this looking for some kind of new regimen that is going to probably do more bad than good anyways. When there is a real treatment for hair loss...we'll know it. Until then, just live your life!